Spring structure



S. F. DALE.

SPRING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV, l7. 19H).

1,435,814, Patented Nbv. M, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEE1 I.

S, F. DALE.

SPRING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 17, 1919.

1 ,485,8 1 Q0 Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

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I I LM S. F. DALE.

SPRING STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION man NOV. 17, 1919.

Patented Nov. M, 1922.

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its normal @atented Now. Mr, 1922c SYLVESTER F. DALE, 0F WILLIAMSPORT,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 CENTER-FED SPRING IN$ERT-C0., OF RIDG-WAY,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELA- WARE.

SPRING STRUCTURE.

Application filed November 17, 1919. Serial Ito. 388,4.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYLvn-srnR'F. DALE, a citizen of the United States,residingat illiamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State ofPennsylvania, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring Structures, of which the following is. a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to spring-structures, and has reference, moreespecially, to means associable with the leaves or lamina thereof formaintaining them constantly lubricated.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a spring-structurewhich shall, at

leaves or laminae efi'ectually lubricated by the employment of sim plebut elfective instrumentalities, whereby the lubricant may, first, beintroduced into the structure, and, then, be caused automatically towork itself over the engaging surfaces of the leaves or lamina; andtheresubstantial wear of the leaves is precontacting leaves is reducedto a minimum, all action of the structure becomes noiseless, and alldanger of breaking of any of the parts thereof is precluded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring-structurecomprising a plurality of spring leaves or laminae which shall have suchleaves or laminae so related to each other, and to a source of externalsupply of lubricant, that a body of the lubricant may initially beprojected into the structure, then forced to the extremities thereof,and eventually, as the spring-structure performs operation, be caused tolubricate the entire area of the engaging surfaces of the leaves; therebeing a body or ribbon of lubricant initially positioned between theleaves so that such lubricant may automatically work itself into placeswhere the movement of the leaves requires it.

A still further object within the contem plation of the invention is toprovide a spring-structure which includes one or more points, preferablylocated on or in the outthe the extremities of the leaves or laminae;and whicharrangemcnt is made possible without material weakening of anyof the parts of the structure.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides inmeansassociated with the several leaves or laminae of a springstructure forreceiving and holding a mass of lubricant which is introduced at an ex{ternal point on the structure, and whereby a continuous passage of thelubricant from the point of introduction to the'extremities of theleaves is rendered possible.

I am aware that, heretofore, attempts have been made to providespring-structures w1th various types of lubricating devices; but, 1nmost instances, these have involved the serious weakening of thestructure, or, if that be not the case, such types have involved aradical reconstruction of the spring-structure so that existingstructures could not be supplied with the lubricators.

y invention is a distinct departure from these proposed types, as willhereinafter be made to appear.

In order that the invention may be more readily comprehended, I havedisclosed in the accompan ing drawings an embodiment thereof; but it isto be understood that the invention is susceptible to a wide range ofmodification and variation without depart,- ing from its salientfeatures and underlying principles, and that it is capable of otherutilizations than that herein revealed.

In these drawings Fig. '1 is a side View in vertical section of aspring-structure with my invention embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing aplurality of spring leaves with interposed spacingmembersor inserts, andshowing particularly the path of flow of the lubricant from the initialpoint of its introduction to the extremities of the leaves;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of one of spacing-members or inserts,detached;

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section, on the line 44, Fig. 1, of one ofthe lubricantcontrolling devices which is mounted on one of the leavesand in communication with the lubricant-duct in the proximate spacingmember or insert;

Fig. 5 is a view invertical section, showin the spring-structure and anassociated oi -gun (so-called), whereby the lubricant is initiallyintroduced into the structure and forced by pressure developed by thegun to the extremities of the members or inserts and, thus, to theextremities of the embracin spring leaves or laminae;

Tig. 6 is a view in central longitudinal section of a modified form ofspring-structure" Fig. 7 is a view in detail of the centrallydisposedlubricant-introducing device shown in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8, is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing the springstructure associated with a form of oil-gun different from thatillustrated in Fig. 5.

Referring to these drawings, the reference-numeral l designates an upperor outer spring leaf; 2 a lower or outer spring leaf; and 3 intermediateleaves. These are of the usual construction, and, when aggrouped,constitute spring-structures of the customar elliptical,semi-elliptical, and quadri-el iptical types of forms.

These leaves may be secured in any proper manner, as by clips orU-bolts.

Each of the intermediate leaves 3 is provided with one or more oilapertures or passages 4, these being arran d, in the severalintermediate leaves, in re atively unaligned and unregisteringpositions; in other words, they are preferably formed in the differentleaves in relatively staggered relation.

Interposed between the several intermediate leaves, as well as betweenthe inter-' mediate leaves and the outer leaves 1 and 2, arespacer-members or inserts 5, preferably made of metal and of steelsomewhat softer than that of the spring leaves. These members or insertsare preferabl of the, same length as one of the leaves with which theycontact and are each provided with an elongated slot or duct 6 which is,preferably and as shown, of less length'than either of the leavesbetween which the insert is disposed. The apertures 4 of two proximateleaves communicate with the duct 6 so that, as shown in Fig. 2 forinstance, there is a continuous passage for lubricant through therespective intermediate leaves and into the several inserts. Bydisposing the apertures and leaves in unaligned position rela-v tively,the lubricant will travel in the duct 6, and thence through the aperture4 in the leaves until the entire passage constituted by-the ducts 6 andthe apertures 4 is filled with lubricant, or practically so. Then as theleaves perform their'normal function,- the surfaces of the leaves, andes-v pecially those which are in contact, are thor oughly lubricated.

my type of lubricant may be-employed, but I prefer to utilize that whichhas suffi- In some instances, I

cient fluidit to permit its being conveniently intro uced into thespringrstructure and forced to the extremities of the inserts utilized;but I have found in practice that V that which is shown in theembodiment of Figs. 1 to-5 is most desirable and efiicient. Thiscontemplates the mounting of oil-receiving devices, marked generally 7and with which a so-called oil-gun 8 is adapted to be associated whenthe filling operation is to be performed. The-devices 7 which,preferably and as shown, are each in the form of a ball-check-nipple,include a leafattaching member or portion 7 and a tubular gun-attachingportion or member 8 adapted to be threaded into one or another of theleaves 1, 2 or 3 and, preferably, adj acent to one end thereof. Disposedin the adapted to exclude dust from the atmosphere, but permitting thedevice 7 to be, when connected to. the oil-gun, opened as a valve andallow the introduction of the lubricant from the gun into the duct'ofthe nearest insert. From this it is, under the pressure developed in theoil-gun, forced through the aperture in the next proximate spring-leaf,and having passed theret rough, it enters the duct in the contactinginsert; and so on throughout the several inserts and leaves. By theseinstrumentalities, the lubricant, introduced at the point of the valvemember 7, is projected into the several ducts 6 of the inserts and theapertures 4 in the leaves which communicate therewith, permitting theflow of the lubri- -cant from one duct to another.'

To facilitate the connection of the oil valve 7 with the oil-gun, thetubular member 8' is provided with outstanding pins or lugs 10 adaptedto en age in slots 11 formed in a nozzle 12 of a exible tube 13 that isattached to the oil-gun. While I have thus described an oil-gun, it isto be understood that any other form of pressure or lubricant-forcingdevice may be employed.

By this arrangement, whenever required, the ducts 6 and apertures 4, aswell as the surfaces of the spring leaves, may be thoroughly flushed andcleaned-of old lubricant, grit, etc.by forcing a bodyof kerosene,gasoline, or other similar medium into the oil valve and thence throughthe ducts and apertures. After this operation is completed, thelubricant may be similarly projected into the structure.

While one oil device at one end of the structure would ordinarilysuflice, nevertheless, I prefer to employ at least two of these andadjacent to the opposite extremities of the, structure, as shown inFig. 1. I

may utilize an additional lubricant-introducing device disposed at thecenter of the spring-structure, such as is shown inFig. 6; or, I maydispense with the oil valves at the extremities of the structure andemploy only the central lubricant-introducing device; This deviceincludes abolt 14 preferably formed with central bore 15, whichterminates in an opening 16. that registers with a duct in one of theinserts 5. Attached to the upper end of the bolt 14 is an oil valve 17-of somewhat the same construction and function as the oil valve 7. Inthis type of structure, the oil-gun is attached to the oil valve 17 andthe oil projected therethrough and through the bolt 14 into the .duct ofthe insert which registers with the opening 16 and from which point thelubricant is projected by thepressure developed in the oil-gun throughthe apertures in the springs and thence into the ducts until the entirestructure is lubricated.

In Fig. 8, I have shown my improved spring structure associated with aform of oil-gun. diflerent from that illustrated in Fig. 5. In thisinstance, the gun, marked 18, includes an oiLcontaining cylinder 19 inwhich an oil-forcing piston 20 operates, the piston being actuated by athreaded member 21. The gun, itself, is connected to one of theoil-receiving devices 7 by'a flexible tubing 22, as shown.

From the foregoing, it will be perceived that I have devised anexceedingly simple system of spring-lubrication, involving a series ofinserts provided with elongated ducts or slots which communicate withduct 6 on the contacting surfaces of the leaves. The introduction of thelubricant by means of the aforementioned oil-gun can .conveniently beaccomplished at the time that lubricant is being introduced in theassociated motor of an automobile, for instance, and be accomplished ina relatively shorter time than is now required to fill the common formof grease-cups, but with far greater efliciency. The invention of thepresent case is to be difierentiated from the structures of a somewhatsimilar character in the prior art in that the lubricant is preferablyintroduced at one or another of the extremities of the spring-structure,and caused to flow to the opposite extremity thereof and, in fact, toall parts of the structure through a series of ducts and communicatingpassages formed respectively in the inserts and in the proximate leaves,such passages in the leaves being unalined so as to provide a circuitouspath of travel for the lubricant as it moves from one to another part ofthe structure, with the essential result that the entire structure is utin condition to lubricate itself continual y and efficiently, and hasthe additional capability of being flushed out and cleaned from time totime, as occasion demands.

What I claim is:

A spring-structure comprising superposed leaves; a spacer-elementdisposed between the facing surfaces of certain of the apertures orpassages formed at predeter mined pointspreferably adjacent theextremities of the spring leaves-whereby a lubricantv may be introducedat one point, or at a-plurality of points, of the structure and forced.through a continuous passage (comprising the several ducts in theinsert, and the apertures in the springs) to effect a positioning of thelubricant against the surfaces of the spring leaves, whereupon suchlubricant will, under the normal action of the structure, be distributedover the contacting portions of the spring-leaves so that they may becompletely, effectively and constantly lubricated. A feature of primaryimportance of this structure is to fill the oilpassage comprising theducts in the inserts and the apertures in the'springs from time to time,as occasion demands, so that in the normal operation of thespring-structure the lubricant will be distributed from the leaves;salid spacer-element comprising a body shaped to conform approximatelyto the edge contour of one of the leaves between which it is placed, andprovided with an elongated cut-out portion; the marginal edges of thespacer-element and the surfaces of-the spring leaves between which it isplaced forming a continuous duct for the pars sage of lubricantextending approximately the length of the smaller of the leaves betweenwhich it is placed; certain of the leaves being provided, toward theirouter extremities, with an opening communicating with the elongated ductwhereby lubricant may be circulated between the leaves;

and means for permitting lubricant to be forced into the ducts,associated with one of the openings.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SYLVESTER F. DALE."

